The Sit-Down Podcast with James Hurt-Val Jeanty-Sound Chemist

Sound Chemist, drummer, percussionist, and turntablist, Val Jeanty stops by The Sit-Down Podcast with James Hurt to share an origin story which begins in her native land-The Republic of Haiti. From immersion in ceremonies of drum and dance as a young child, exposure arts across multiple disciplines, the shift towards instability and the decision to migrate to the USA, to an awareness of the different levels of social metrics to include race as a leading determinant of 'how' one moves through such a system labeled as a Democracy yet structured as a Republic, becoming drawn to the new sounds of urban youth's unique voice through the music of Hip-Hop, utilizing electronic instruments such as turntables and samplers as an extension of both sonic-creativity and cultural-preservation, navigating the journey of sound healing as a Sound Chemist, and offering a word of encouragement to aspiring sonic explorers and the like. This episode is dedicated the continued struggle and enduring spirit of the people of Haiti. Background music composed and performed by James Hurt. 

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Chapters

• 2:23 Birthplace origins
• 10:49 The hard conversation-acceptance of difference
• 15:35 The practice of Haitian Vodoun as way of life
• 22:01 Catholic religion in juxtaposition with Vodoun cultural practices
• 34:53 The first memory of music as a calling through the 'Kata' rhythm
• 41:00 Afro-electronica and reverse-engineering artistic roots in the family tree
• 45:27 The art of 'beingness' through Ancestral Technology and migrating to the USA in search of a new sound
• 50:26 The challenge of identity politics and knowing the value of cultural preservation
• 52:42 The need to migrate for survival and coming to America
• 56:32 The segregationist reality of the deep south and the color code
• 1:00:38 Sonic bombardment and the new sound of a generation in Hip-Hop-urban storytelling
• 1:09:15 Sound as a both comfort and a safeguard from distraction
• 1:10:13 The turntable backspin and DJ Rock Raider-the new drummer
• 1:15:09 Cultural reimagining through technology and electronic instruments-owning the creating narrative
• 1:21:00 Afro-Electronica as a continuum of Haitian Ancestry and the arts
• 1:24:14 A word of advice for aspiring Sound experimentalists
• 1:31:00 New horizons as a Sound Healer